Against All Odds
by Shibalyfe
Summary: Andromeda meets a handsome muggle and together they defy the odds. Written for The Houses Competition: Y3R3.


House: Gryffindor

Position: Prefect

Category: Short

Prompt: [character] Andromeda Black/Tonks

Word Count: 1924 words, excluding header, author notes, and title.

Beta: CK and Tiggs

A/N: There are some spelling mistakes to account for accents. This was written for The Houses Competition, Y3R3

Against All Odds

Andromeda Black had always been different from other members of her family. She was the middle child and that seemed to reflect in everything she did. She was always caught in the middle. She wanted to be a good daughter but didn't care about blood supremacy. When she went off to school she wanted to be a good Slytherin but she didn't like being cruel. It was only after school that she really learned who she wanted to be, and it wasn't who her family wanted her to be.

She remembered that day perfectly. She was traveling through Europe by herself, on her 'trip to adulthood' after Hogwarts. Her family thought It necessary for the newly graduated Hogwarts students to explore Europe on their own so they could become their 'own person' and come back ready for marriage. It was really just a way to display their wealth but regardless, Andromeda was enjoying her trip away from the demands of her family. She was able to enjoy the sights, nature, and do whatever she wanted. She knew her family would be disappointed if they found her walking along the trail like a commoner, but she enjoyed it. The fresh breeze blowing through her hair and the sun's golden rays warming her soul, it made her feel alive for once in her life.

She had always felt repressed at home. She wasn't as gifted as Bellatrix with magic and she wasn't pretty like Narcissa, so she just blended in the background and stayed out of the way. After pretending to be in the background for years, she began to feel more like furniture than a living, breathing person. For years, she had just been going through the motions of living but now being out on her own, free to do whatever she wanted, she felt more alive than she ever had.

She was busy daydreaming about what her life might be like if she chose to never go back and decided to stay in Ireland—the rolling hills, greenery, and wildflowers suited her more than the rigid garden back at home with its expensive and high maintenance flowers—when she bumped into another person. Her face flushed. She hadn't even noticed another person on the road; her sisters would have teased her to no end if they had been here, but they weren't here. She straightened her shoulders and looked up at the man whom she tripped over.

He was very handsome. He had deep blue eyes that reminded her of the sky when it stormed and a ruggish haircut. He was athletic and two dimples appeared when he smiled down at her. She could feel her heart start to hammer in her chest. He offered his hand out to her and she could feel her knees grow weaker, even as he pulled her up. She tried to look away but his dazzling smile held her rooted in place. She swayed as he planted her on her feet and nearly fell over again.

He winked at her and picked her up, carrying her against his chest. She was so speechless that she didn't even ask why he was carrying her; instead, she just snuggled further against his chest. He was so warm and strong. He smelt like cinnamon and evergreen and Andromeda knew that this was her new favorite smell. She closed her eyes and just tried to bask in the euphoric feeling that was washing over her.

The man carrying her began to slow down and she forced her eyes open. She saw a quaint village as the stranger made his way towards a cabin in the middle of the town. He shouldered open the door and gently set her down on a worn-down sofa. He quickly went into the other room and her eyes widened when she saw him returning with a rag. She sprung to her feet and demanded that he stay away from her. Her eyes darted to the door but he was blocking her path.

"It's okay, lass," he soothed, "I ain't gonna hurt yah. I just be wanting to put some ice on yer leg. I thought it sprained when I knocked ye down and that's why ye couldn't walk. I'm Ted Tonks, at your service lass."

Andromeda wanted to laugh at the entire situation; she was an utter fool. He was just trying to help her—not do anything more sinister like she had originally suspected. She slowly sat back down on the couch and nodded at him. He quickly examined her foot, even though Andromeda knew nothing was wrong and placed it in his lap so he could hold the ice wrapped with the rag against it.

* * *

She knew he was a Muggle but she still couldn't seem to stop herself from seeing him. She spent her whole summer in that tiny village instead of traveling around Europe like she was supposed to, but she didn't regret it. She loved every moment and as the summer began to close, she knew who she was and who she wanted to be. She didn't want to go back to an arranged marriage; she wanted to be Andromeda Tonks, and she told him as much. He laughed at her straight-forwardness but readily agreed to wanting that too.

She knew, despite them being engaged, that she was still going to have to go back to face her family, if for no other reason than to tell them that she was leaving. She gave Ted a brief kiss and with one last wistful look around her, she Apparated back to the Black Manor with a _crack_.

She instantly felt a slap on the face as she gained her surroundings. She had Apparated into the family drawing room, where her whole family was sitting. Her mother held up her hand to slap her again.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to be back weeks ago!" she shrieked and landed another blow.

"I… " Andromeda started nervously. Being around her family always caused her to question herself, but Ted's face flashed in her mind and she instantly straightened. "I was traveling Europe per Black family tradition."

"So why are you over a month late to return home?" her mother snapped. "We had to push back your engagement to Lucius, and the Malfoys are not happy about it! You had better have a good explanation, girl, or you will be delivered to your fiancé black and blue!"

"What?" she questioned.

Another blow hit her right cheek. "Are you stupid girl? Your engagement to the Malfoy heir; surely you must have known we would have been arranging a marriage for you while you were away."

She began to tremble in anger and caught her mother's wrist before another blow could land on her cheek. She narrowed her eyes and through clenched teeth, told her that she would not be getting engaged to Lucius.

"I am already engaged," she informed them.

"To whom!" her father demanded.

"Ted Tonks!" she replied evenly.

"Tonks? Tonks… there is no pureblood family by that name!"

"That's because he isn't a pureblood," she said, squaring her shoulders. "He is a Muggle and I will be marrying him."

Her family all gasped and she took that opportunity to run from the drawing room to her bedroom. She could hear her father's heavy footsteps behind her and quickly slammed the door closed. She threw up a quick protective spell and quickly magicked items that she wanted into her bag.

Her father was banging on the door now and her heart was thudding in her ears. She could feel his anger reverberate throughout the room each time his fist met the door, but she knew she wouldn't open it.

"I forbid you from marrying that Muggle," he spat out, his voice shaking with rage.

"You can't stop me!" Andromeda called out.

"You will no longer be a part of this family, do you hear me? You will no longer have access to our family fortune and you will be stripped of the Black family name! Do you understand me!?"

"Fine, I will be a Tonks then; at least I will be proud to wear that name!" she called back to him.

This only caused him to bang against the door harder, the wooden door groaning under the strain. She was feverishly packing so she could get away from this place as soon as possible; she didn't know what would happen if he did manage to break down the door.

"Andromeda, you will never be happy with that Muggle," her mother called out in a shrill voice. "You could never live as Muggle." Her mother laughed coldly. "You will disgrace our family and any children that you have will be an abomination!"

"I will be happy with him! Happier than I could ever have been here!"

"Don't come back to us when you are poor, disease-ridden, and have magicless children. You are no longer welcome here; when you get tired of living like an animal don't come cowering back to us. You are no longer a member of this household. Leave and never come back." Her mother's voice echoed throughout the halls.

The pounding on the door stopped and she could hear her mother changing the protections for the house at that very moment. It was now or never. She took one last glance at her childhood room, closed her eyes, and landed back into the arms of Ted Tonks. She didn't even know she was crying until he began to wipe the tears away. She buried her head in his shirt and stayed there all night.

* * *

Her parents had been wrong. She was happy with Ted. She grew more in love with him each day. She didn't care that they weren't rich. She didn't care that he wasn't magical. She pinched herself from time to time just to make sure she wasn't daydreaming about her life. She sometimes feared that she was going to wake up and be in the cold Malfoy manor in a loveless marriage, but each day she woke up in Ted's arms. It was an adjustment to live like a Muggle and it wasn't always easy, but to live each day feeling loved and adored made giving up her magic worth it.

Not long after their marriage, they welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world, and Andromeda could not have been happier. Her heart swelled with love for her daughter and she knew the moment that she held her in her arms that it wouldn't matter to her one bit if her child wasn't magical. She would love her daughter no matter what.

It wasn't long after Nymphadora's third birthday that she knew she was magical. Andromeda had gone into the kitchen to grab a snack for her screaming child. She walked back into the kitchen and saw that her daughter had flaming red hair that matched the color of her angry chubby cheeks.

Andromeda almost laughed at the sight; not only was her daughter magical but she was also a Metamophmagus, a very rare type of magic that a person was born into. She almost didn't believe her eyes, her daughter a Metamorphmagus. Once she got over the initial shock, she had wanted to run to her parents and show them how wrong they were about her daughter. Even they would be jealous. Her daughter with her 'dirty blood' was so much more special than any one of them could hope to be, against all odds.


End file.
